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The LBCJoined: 12 Jan 2008Posts: 35148Location: Where We Can't Have Nice Things

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 4:21 pm Post subject:

Well, a few observations:
Honey Badger's likely not declaring. The kid seems genuinely to be making every effort to get back onto the LSU roster in 2013, and Miles looks like he's doing whatever he can - within the rules - to aid him in that effort.

Al Davis isn't running the Raiders anymore, and Reggie McKenzie isn't the type to use a 1st round pick on a 3rd round prospect just because the guy is "athletic". Literally, right now Logan Thomas has shown little more than the Raiders already have in Terrelle Pryor. Right idea with a mobile QB (assuming they keep Greg Knapp - which they really shouldn't, but could) given that the only time a Knapp-run offense has succeeded has been when he has a mobile QB (Palmer is much more of a pocket passer), but it's needlessly wasteful with the pick.

Brandon Jenkins is going to have to make a heck of a comeback from the injury he suffered week 1 to boost himself to 1st Round stock when he was only receiving 2nd and 3rd round grades at the end of last season and didn't have the opportunity to do anything to boost that stock with performance.

If the Jets elect to stick with Sanchez, and this is no knock against Jarvis Jones, but I have a really hard time seeing Rex pass on Lattimore. Greene's been blassez. Neither McKnight or Bilal Powell are going to challenge for the starter's spot. And in Rex's ideal scheme, they're grounding and pounding, which means they need an effective rushing game.

Chargers' pick look good... hopefully he's still there by that point (I can see Atlanta being a team to target a CB as well as the Giants._________________

As you can see from my mock....Miami has the potential to really, really improve their team through this draft.

I think that they'll end up picking top 5, probably top 3. They aren't going to give up on Tannehill yet.

They should trade their top pick to one of the teams looking for a quarterback. I have them trading the 2 pick for the 7th pick, a 2nd rounder, and 2 more 1st rounders in 2014 and 2015. That's about around what they'd get. They should absolutely pull the trigger if they can do that.

I'd say that the Fins "won" this mock draft. Keenan Allen, Tony Jefferson, Alex Okafor, and Johnny Adams in the first two rounds would be a great draft for them.

LBC......I'd like to address what you said about Thoms and the Raiders.

First off, Thomas is a much better prospect than Pryor was. Thomas isn't a 3rd round talent. A lot of people, myself included, think he is worthy of a first round pick.

Now, I think he is the 5th best QB prospect in this class. If the Raiders can get any of the other 4 guys (Barkley, Wilson, Bray, Smith) then they absolutely should. But, as you can see, I have them taking Thomas because the other four were drafted first.

Thomas is a great prospect. He isn't a good prospect just because he is "athletic" as you insinuated. He has accuracy issues, but he has a cannon of an arm and has the physical tools to be a franchise QB. He reminds me a lot of Freeman. Yes, he is a mobile QB. But he is still a pocket passer as well who just happens to be able to run it.

I vehemently disagree with you that he's no better of a prospect than Pryor. Pryor is horrid as a passer, whereas Thomas has shown that he has a ton of potential in that area and already is a pretty good one now. [/b]_________________

The LBCJoined: 12 Jan 2008Posts: 35148Location: Where We Can't Have Nice Things

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2012 6:03 pm Post subject:

baconrad3 wrote:

As you can see from my mock....Miami has the potential to really, really improve their team through this draft.

I think that they'll end up picking top 5, probably top 3. They aren't going to give up on Tannehill yet.

They should trade their top pick to one of the teams looking for a quarterback. I have them trading the 2 pick for the 7th pick, a 2nd rounder, and 2 more 1st rounders in 2014 and 2015. That's about around what they'd get. They should absolutely pull the trigger if they can do that.

I'd say that the Fins "won" this mock draft. Keenan Allen, Tony Jefferson, Alex Okafor, and Johnny Adams in the first two rounds would be a great draft for them.

LBC......I'd like to address what you said about Thoms and the Raiders.

First off, Thomas is a much better prospect than Pryor was. Thomas isn't a 3rd round talent. A lot of people, myself included, think he is worthy of a first round pick.

Now, I think he is the 5th best QB prospect in this class. If the Raiders can get any of the other 4 guys (Barkley, Wilson, Bray, Smith) then they absolutely should. But, as you can see, I have them taking Thomas because the other four were drafted first.

Thomas is a great prospect. He isn't a good prospect just because he is "athletic" as you insinuated. He has accuracy issues, but he has a cannon of an arm and has the physical tools to be a franchise QB. He reminds me a lot of Freeman. Yes, he is a mobile QB. But he is still a pocket passer as well who just happens to be able to run it.

I vehemently disagree with you that he's no better of a prospect than Pryor. Pryor is horrid as a passer, whereas Thomas has shown that he has a ton of potential in that area and already is a pretty good one now. [/b]

My point is that literally all he's got right now is upside. You can't just lump what he has as "accuracy issues" and call it a day. His deep ball accuracy is poor (we're talking Jake Locker poor), largely because he seems to have little concept of how to put touch on a ball versus just cranking full-throttle with his arm. Now some of this is mechanical, but this is one of those sort of mechanical issues that typically gets sorted out early in college for most intelligent QB's (it's like a pitcher learning to throw a curveball, they have to learn to ratchet back the velocity but they also have to consciously do it, Thomas hasn't shown a willingness to do that yet).

His decision-making in and of itself isn't something that isn't correctable, but when looked at alongside the reasons why his deep ball accuracy is so poor or that his best moments typically come running a two-minute offense when a defense isn't afforded the opportunity to set-up and play that game of mental chess against him, it definitely draws some questions about the guy's football IQ. Thomas could be Josh Freeman, he could be a slightly better Brock Osweiler or Ryan Tannehill. As of right now, I don't believe he's shown enough to merit a 1st round selection. He certainly seems far more in the Osweiler/Locker camp right now in terms of being a guy who either doesn't grasp or is completely ignoring the nuanced approach to the game from its most important position.

I'm not saying he won't go in the 1st if he declares - the premium put on QB's and particularly ones with ideal size slides those odds considerably more in his favor - just that that will be more a product of inflation due to perceived scarcity as opposed to actually "deserved" status. And the other part of my point was that Reggie McKenzie comes from the Ted Thompson school of drafting - which places a HEAVY emphasis on football IQ. Simply being athletically-gifted with a ton of potential isn't enough to get you drafted by a Thompson/McKenzie, unless they're getting you at a significant discount (I could see McKenzie drafting Thomas at say the top of the 2nd or even trading back and targeting him in the very late 1st, but spending a Top 15 pick on him "just because he's the last one left" isn't his style. He'd sooner be a candidate to trade up and try to outbid the Chiefs for Bray (whose prowess in the mental approach to the game is well over two-fold better than Thomas') at Tennessee's pick.

That Thompson mode of attack in the draft involves following one of two avenues: Take the value that falls through the cracks even if the player is not an immediate need (see Aaron Rodgers, Derrick Sherrod, to an extent Brian Bulaga, BJ Raji) or identify the guy that you absolutely have to have that fills a need while meeting your other checklist items and make a move for him (see Clay Matthews, Morgan Burnett). It's certainly not a type of staff that's gun-shy about trading back if they see a guy they like/want but don't see the value in picking him where they're originally slotted (see Jordy Nelson, Brandon Jackson).

Honestly, I'm probably just a bigger critic of mocks because I think the plug and play approach is lazy (not meant to be an insult, just that if you're going to do something it would seem like considering all factors rather than just a couple would be advisable). And being the last among the teams with eyes fixed on a QB would seem like one of those instances where I could see a particular type of GM like Reggie McKenzie looking to trade back if he was really going to target a prospect like Thomas, versus just outright take him at the natural pick._________________

Wow, would suck to pick 15th, but getting Rhodes and Porter? Very good._________________
"Strength is meaningless in o-line play if there is no explosive, or speed-strength, quality to the strength."
- LeCharles Bentley

I dont think we'd take another DE early after taking DE in rounds 1 and 2 in back to back drafts, and he would be our 3rd if not 4th DE, though he's got the upside to where we could develop him for a year or two till someone is gone.

I'd say take Travis Frederick here. Guys a monster and if he's still available, he's a monster in the run game, exactly what we need.

But the first round pick...

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MrDrew wrote:

Everything about Rivers is Awkward, reminiscent of a Giraffe with Down's Syndrome